Evaluation/Essay for Sound used in Computer Games
Different sounds recorded/edited for Unity games
1. Heavy Breathing (3D Game)
2. Rain (3D Game)
3. Character Jump (2D Game)
4. Character noise 1 (2D Game)
5. Character noise 5 (2D Game)
6. Enemy summon (2D Game)
7. Gun Shoot (2D Game)
8. Enemy death 5 (2D Game)
9. Enemy death 6 (2D Game)
10. Enemy death 7 (2D Game)
11. Hit on robot (2D Game)
12. Title Music for Final Major Project (2D Game)
The pieces of audio used in the Unity 3D games were created by me. The 'title music for final major project' was created in Mixcraft 6 while the other pieces of audio were all recorded by me.
The audio 'Heavy Breathing' was recorded on the sound recorder provided at collage. The audio was edited to have a lower pitch, so the breathing has a heavier intensity.
The audio 'Rain' was recorded on my Nintendo 3DS system on a day when it was raining at my home. The audio was edited to also have a lower pitch, so that the rain can sound more realistic.
The audio 'Character jump' was recorded using the sound recorder. The audio itself was recorded from a radio with no station selected, so it just left a consistent fizzing-type noise. The audio was edited to have a low pixels, so that the audio sounds much deeper and more pixalated.
The audio 'Character noise 1' was recorded on the sound recorder. The voice was provided by me and was highly edited to sound more fitting to a robot.
The audio 'Character noise 5' was similar to that of the previous audio, only it was recorded on my Nintendo 3DS system. The audio has an increased volume because it was too quiet when transferred to Unity.
The audio 'Enemy Summon' was actually another of the Character noises. It was recorded by my voice on the sound recorder and was edited so suit the game.
The audio 'Gun Shoot' was recorded on the sound recorder. The sound came from when a I punched one of the walls with dotted holes in and was edited to have a slightly lower pitch to suit the game.
The audios 'Enemy death 5', 'Enemy death 6' and 'Enemy death 7' were all recorded on my Nintendo 3DS system and were all edited so that each of them suit the enemies in the game.
The audio 'Hit on robot' was recorded on the sound recorder. The sound itself was from 2 plastic sticks hit together and was edited so that the pitch was lower to have a more intense impact.
The audio 'Title for Final Major Project' is still going to be included in the final major project, but I felt that this piece of music was more fitting to my 2D Game.
Sound Report
There are many key differences between Analogue recording and Digital recording. The continuous updating for recording has affected the way people have recorded their many different sounds, such as vocals, instruments, sound effects and messages to name a few. While Digital recording is more flexible (in that some recorded sound can be stored in USB's, CD's etc) and that the sound produced is not affected by the atmosphere (windy conditions could flow around a Phonograph's tube), Analogue recording is cheaper and can be done in real-time, consuming less bandwidth.
The most popular form of Analogue recording had been an invention known as the Phonograph. Invented by the famous Thomas Edison, the Phonograph was designed to record/reproduce the sound recordings. While other inventors did manage to create different forms of Phonograph, Edison's was the first to reproduce the sound recorded. Updates were continuously being performed on the Phonograph, such as the change from Phonograph cylinders to flat discs with a spiral periphery to near the centre of the disc. Up until around the 1970's, updates and improvements were being made to the Phonograph, ranging from the drive system and the turntable, to make sure it stops less, the sound and equalization systems, to improve the quality of the sound and even the needle/point used to keep the disc in place.
It was until the 1980's when sales started to dramatically decline due to the introduction of the Compact Discs and other digital recording devices. Originally, compact discs were designed store and play back recorded sounds, but were later upgraded so that people can also store the recorded sounds. Two different types of Microphones were also used in digital recording, one to emit the vocals of a person, making their voice louder, making it easier for people to hear and another to record the voice of the person's vocals, but not emit the sound, effectively improving the microphone over the decades.
The most common use of Sound Recording are used in the music and gaming business. In the music business, music artists use many different microphones and music editing systems to record their vocals, the instruments played and even some music created from sound effects. All of the above recorded sounds are then edited on a type of system on a computer to match the type of music the artist was thinking about. In the gaming industry, many sound effects are recorded via microphone. Usually, different objects are used to record the sound and, when recorded, are edited to suit the game scene (an example could be if two metal poles were hit together, then afterwards had an effect placed on them so that when the metal poles make contact, the sound can be heard around the soundwaves louder and longer, as if the object was in a cave).
Another use of sound effects and recorded music are used in the film industry. The Star Wars films have used many sound effects and recorded music composed from a Orchestra (In this case, the London Symphony Orchestra). The Sound effect used for the Lightsaber was made by a combination of the hum of idling interlock motors in aged movie projectors and interference caused by a television set on a shieldless microphone. The Sound Effect that was used for the roar for the character 'Chewbacca' was made from several recorded animals such as bears, badgers, walrus and camels. They were then all placed at the same time together on a sound editing software.
To conclude, Digital Recording has completely wiped out any potential competition from the Analogue recording. Digital recording is only going to get more and more popular over time until there is another way to record and store any sound effects or music. Although Analogue recording is now not used at all, humans could move into another form of recording, although that form of recording will still be digital, devices such as USB's, Microphones and CD's will not be used, making them another part of history, making them the Phonograph's of the 21st Century.
Sound Report
There are many key differences between Analogue recording and Digital recording. The continuous updating for recording has affected the way people have recorded their many different sounds, such as vocals, instruments, sound effects and messages to name a few. While Digital recording is more flexible (in that some recorded sound can be stored in USB's, CD's etc) and that the sound produced is not affected by the atmosphere (windy conditions could flow around a Phonograph's tube), Analogue recording is cheaper and can be done in real-time, consuming less bandwidth.
The most popular form of Analogue recording had been an invention known as the Phonograph. Invented by the famous Thomas Edison, the Phonograph was designed to record/reproduce the sound recordings. While other inventors did manage to create different forms of Phonograph, Edison's was the first to reproduce the sound recorded. Updates were continuously being performed on the Phonograph, such as the change from Phonograph cylinders to flat discs with a spiral periphery to near the centre of the disc. Up until around the 1970's, updates and improvements were being made to the Phonograph, ranging from the drive system and the turntable, to make sure it stops less, the sound and equalization systems, to improve the quality of the sound and even the needle/point used to keep the disc in place.
It was until the 1980's when sales started to dramatically decline due to the introduction of the Compact Discs and other digital recording devices. Originally, compact discs were designed store and play back recorded sounds, but were later upgraded so that people can also store the recorded sounds. Two different types of Microphones were also used in digital recording, one to emit the vocals of a person, making their voice louder, making it easier for people to hear and another to record the voice of the person's vocals, but not emit the sound, effectively improving the microphone over the decades.
The most common use of Sound Recording are used in the music and gaming business. In the music business, music artists use many different microphones and music editing systems to record their vocals, the instruments played and even some music created from sound effects. All of the above recorded sounds are then edited on a type of system on a computer to match the type of music the artist was thinking about. In the gaming industry, many sound effects are recorded via microphone. Usually, different objects are used to record the sound and, when recorded, are edited to suit the game scene (an example could be if two metal poles were hit together, then afterwards had an effect placed on them so that when the metal poles make contact, the sound can be heard around the soundwaves louder and longer, as if the object was in a cave).
Another use of sound effects and recorded music are used in the film industry. The Star Wars films have used many sound effects and recorded music composed from a Orchestra (In this case, the London Symphony Orchestra). The Sound effect used for the Lightsaber was made by a combination of the hum of idling interlock motors in aged movie projectors and interference caused by a television set on a shieldless microphone. The Sound Effect that was used for the roar for the character 'Chewbacca' was made from several recorded animals such as bears, badgers, walrus and camels. They were then all placed at the same time together on a sound editing software.
To conclude, Digital Recording has completely wiped out any potential competition from the Analogue recording. Digital recording is only going to get more and more popular over time until there is another way to record and store any sound effects or music. Although Analogue recording is now not used at all, humans could move into another form of recording, although that form of recording will still be digital, devices such as USB's, Microphones and CD's will not be used, making them another part of history, making them the Phonograph's of the 21st Century.
Evaluation
Personally, I enjoyed recording various different noises with different systems. The sound effects used in the game are well suited for each part in both games. Although some of the sound effects don't match what the audio says, it was more suited for other sound effects. There were some sound effects that weren't used in the game, such as running for the 3D game. Some sounds were also too quiet (the ones that were recorded on the Nintendo 3DS systems), but their ambients (volume) were increased so that they can be heard in the 2D Game.
The part that I did in the sound presentation was the difference between Analogue and Digital recording, but since there were 5 people in the team, me and another person split the difference between Analogue and Digital recording, so I did the Analogue part.
My information in the presentation was some basic information on what Analogue recording is, some images on some different forms of Analogue recording and a chart showing the positives and negatives of Analogue recording.
The presentation itself was made by me (although I did receive some help from another person in the group). I think the look of the presentation itself was okay, since some parts of the presentation were poorly made. Some information from each of us was also cut out as we feared that the presentation itself would be too long.
I think that the presentation itself went okay, but could have been better. The positives in the presentation are the information in each of the pieces of the presentation were very reliable and were easy to read/understand. The length of the presentation itself was about the correct timing. The negatives in the presentation are that the presentation itself looked very untidy when it was displayed on the board. Some people in the presentation also struggled with the words that were said, either the words were too small or they were generally difficult to pronounce.
If I were to do the presentation again, I would have less information for each section of the presentation so that words wouldn't be scratched out to make the presentation look untidy. The presentation look itself could have been a little better, in that, some of the images used could of had their white backgrounds removed. The group should have also gone over the presentation (each person with their own chosen section) so that people wouldn't have struggled to read some of the words.
